Of course, “casual” need not mean “sloppy!” Your casual wedding gown can still look great – it can be white and flowy and very flattering – but it likely won’t have a long train and will not be very structured.

You can buy a casual wedding gown off the rack – any long white gown will do – or you can opt for a “proper” bridal gown but go with a simple style.

Personally, I love the following styles by Anya Bridal, who offer wedding dresses in Atlanta:

Allison Wedding Gown

I love the way the model is wearing this gown with her hair down. Very appropriate for such a simple, gorgeous style that would look perfect in a backyard wedding.

Brittany Wedding gown

Another simple style that’s very appropriate in a casual setting yet elegant enough for a more formal wedding.

When picking a wedding dress style, it’s very important to make sure that the style is appropriate for the ceremony. Casual would likely look out of place in a church or in a fancy hotel. Formal would probably raise eyebrows on the beach or in your parents’ backyard!

Look at this poster for the recent movie The Proposal:

An excellent movie by the way – very funny – but looking at the poster, one certainly gets the impression that when a woman proposes, it’s somehow unnatural – forced on the man. Of course, one could say that this is only the case for the specific movie where the woman most definitely forced the engagement on the man (at least at first).

Frankly, it had never occurred to me to propose. Without even thinking about it too much, I just knew that it was my now-husband’s role to propose, and mine to accept or decline.

I also suspect that in those cases where the woman ends up proposing, the proposal is very practical and not at all elaborate – something like “hey, why don’t we get married” and certainly not airplanes or scoreboards featuring romantic proposals!

What’s your take on the subject? Do you feel that in this case sticking with tradition is best and that the groom should propose, or is it OK if the bride proposes?

I guess I’m an old-fashioned kinda gal, but I like to keep things classic.

However, I am quite aware of the fact that many grooms are looking for unique ways to propose, and that many brides are happy to receive a unique proposal!

If you’re looking for unique proposal ideas, here are a few:

1. Propose during a hot air balloon ride. Super romantic!

2. Propose on a billboard or on a scoreboard in a professional sports game. To avoid public humiliation, you need to be very sure she’s going to say yes!

3. Hire a plane to fly a banner with your proposal. This can get expensive, but is definitely impressive!

4. Propose during a romantic weekend in a fancy hotel. Arrange with the hotel in advance to have champagne, flowers etc. waiting for you in the room and get a suite if possible. Some hotels will give you a free upgrade if you tell them about your plans.

Whatever you do, my view on the proposal is just like my view on the wedding day: don’t get all worked up about it. It’s just the beginning of what will hopefully be a long, amazing journey of deep love and friendship.

PS. Tips above are for women who decide to propose too!

Photo by Lori Greig

We love winter weddings.

Sure, most people choose to get married in the spring, but we think that winter weddings are very romantic!

First of all, a winter wedding tells the world that you are so much in love with each other that you couldn’t possibly wait until the spring to get married! You had to do it NOW.

In addition, a winter wedding is celebrated indoors, which automatically turns it into a more elegant affair – and gives you a great excuse to wear a fabulous dress and to make it a black tie event.

A winter wedding reception can be a very cozy affair if you use candles and add soft textures in rich colors such as dark red velvet ribbon tied around the napkins. Winter is also a great time to serve hearty, decadent fare to your guests instead of the light fare that is so typical of spring and summer weddings.

Of course, a winter wedding can be very practical too – since it’s off-season for the wedding industry, you will likely be able to get a great deal on many items, especially on the venue and on hotel rooms. This can translate into some serious savings, which means a winter wedding is a great option if your budget is tight.

Photo by Corey Ann

Can you expect to be comfortable on your wedding day? We think that the answer is definitely YES!

A lot of this has to do with your own choices and expectations. If you think of your wedding as an opportunity to get all dolled up and look super glamorous, then comfort is probably the last thing on your mind.

But are you making the right choice? If you choose a restrictive dress, high pointy heels, uncomfortable lacy underwear and heavy makeup that needs to be constantly retouched, are you going to be able to enjoy the wedding or are you going to be miserable?

We feel that while looking great is certainly one of every bride’s goals, feeling great and being comfortable are just as important, and hey – we both know that when you’re in pain, you just don’t look good.

How about a compromise? Maybe your goal should be to find a balance between looking great and feeling great, so that you can actually do both. For example, a simple, non-fussy wedding dress with a relatively short train, 2-inch heels and light makeup will enable you to actually enjoy your big day. And hey, this is just between us girls, but underneath that dress? Simple cotton underwear is going to feel so much better than scratchy lace. Just my 2 cents.

Shoes from Zappos

since many wedding gown designs are traditionally made with elaborate details and lots of fabric, finding the perfect wedding dress for you is going to be fairly challenging – but it can be done.

Regardless of how your “dream” wedding dress looks, if you’re a short bride, puffy wedding gown styles are probably not the best choice for you. Instead, go with a simple, clean, unfussy look. A simple sheath dress will look great on you. Keep the train and the veil short too – the less cluttered the look, the better.

For petite brides, I really like the Victoria style from Anya Bridal (Atlanta wedding gown designers):

It is clean and simple, yet elegant and sophisticated.

I also like the Tanya style:

Remember that while it may be tempting to wear very high heels to your wedding in an effort to make yourself appear taller, the price you will pay in terms of discomfort and possibly pain and inability to enjoy yourself is too high! Choose a wearable 2-3 inch heel and a sleek dress style and you will look gorgeous AND enjoy your big day.

A few things you should look for in your wedding gown:

1. Fabric: Your wedding gown should not just look beautiful. The fabric needs to be resilient so that it won’t snag or tear easily.

2. Seams. Make sure the seams are straight and even. A high quality dress with straight seams will lie flat against your body rather than bulging in all the wrong places.

3. Detailing. All detailing, such as beads, must be securely fastened.

4. Buttons and Zippers. Buttons should be well-secured to the dress. Zippers must be flat and never bulky. They should also be easy to zip and unzip.

5. Trains. The train should flow naturally and gracefully from the dress to the floor, and appear round and even.

While high quality often means paying more, it IS possible to find affordable, high quality wedding gowns. Anya Bridal, for example, who offer wedding dresses in Atlanta, have a wide selection of beautiful, well made, affordable wedding gowns.

Photo by e.t.

A black and white wedding can mean many things, but usually the idea is that the bride wears white, the groom and the groom party wears black tuxedos with white shirts and black ties, the bridesmaids wear black dresses, and the reception is decorated in black and white, sometimes with a few red accents such as red roses.

Or, if you’re really bold, you can go with yellow accents like the bride in the photo above did!

I like black and white weddings because they always feel so elegant and sophisticated. This theme is especially appropriate for brides who are looking for a clean, contemporary look and would like to break away from pinks, browns and anything frilly. You can even add black accents to your wedding dress, to make the look especially unique and modern and to completely break away from “traditional.”

The black and white look is definitely a nod to Hollywood of the 40s, to classic beauty and stars and unapologetic glamor. Most of your guests are going to love it, and those who won’t – well, you can’t make everyone happy anyway!

One of the best things about a black and white wedding: the bridesmaids are usually happy with their dresses!

Photo by Jessica Higgins

This certainly makes sense, but today I’d like to make a case for wearing off white to a first-time wedding, simply because the color complements your skin tone better than pure white would.

Pure white looks great on cool skin tones with pink undertones. But if your skin’s undertones are yellow rather than pink, you need to wear a warmer shade. Pure white may be the traditional choice, but it can make you look really tired and pale! This is obviously the last thing you want on your wedding day.

Off white, or ivory, is a warm color that can look great on the right skin tone. The best way to know which color suits you best is simply to try it on! Ideally, if you can see yourself in daylight (stand next to the window if you can’t go outside wearing the dress), this is the best way to find out if you should go with a pure white wedding gown or with an off white dress.

one of my favorite off white wedding gowns is the Charlotte style by Anya Bridal, an Atlanta wedding dresses store:

I would certainly hope this is not the case. Financially speaking, just as it’s important to stick with a budget when planning your wedding, it’s also important to avoid buying an engagement ring that the groom can’t afford, because once the couple is married, assuming their finances are combined, the result is disastrous for a young couple. starting a young marriage with a credit card debt is a bad idea. A credit card debt is one of the worst types of debt you can incur – it’s very expensive and can easily snowball out of control.

I personally know a couple who went with simple gold bands for both of them. For their ten-year anniversary, when they were more secure financially, she got a nice diamond ring, which they selected together. What a smart couple!

I’m not saying that engagement rings are not important. They certainly are a beautiful symbol of love and commitment. BUT if buying an expensive engagement ring means putting it on your credit card, knowing in advance that you won’t be able to make the full payment each month, my personal opinion is that it’s just not worth it.

Photo by Lucid Dreamer